WILMOT, Wis. – A year after the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series race at Wilmot Raceway, Wisconsin natives are still talking about the event.

They’re continuing to talk about the driver who picked up his first win with a seven-second lead, as well as came close to putting eighth-place Donny Schatz a lap down.

That driver was Myerstown, Penn., native Brent Marks, and he’s hoping to keep people talking with another win at Wilmot on Saturday.

“I think I pulled up a pretty big fan base after that weekend,” Marks said. “It seems like every time we come back to Wisconsin people are still talking about that.”

Marks’ first win at Wilmot led to two more victories last year. He’s been winless since his last win at Eldora Speedway in September, though.

This year has been filled with highs and lows for Marks. He came close to picking up his fourth career World of Outlaws victory at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in June, but a late-race mistake forced him to settle for second.

He’s failed to transfer to four features this year, but at the start of July got two more provisionals to use for the remainder of the season. And lately, he’s been building momentum with strong runs.

Marks originally hadn’t transferred to the feature for the final night of the Jackson Nationals, but due to a car being disqualified before the start of the race, and Marks being the first alternate, he was able to get on track before the initial start.

He made the most of that opportunity by charging from 24th to 14th.

Marks then backed that performance up with two fourth-place finishes in-a-row – earning the Hard Charger award at Cedar Lake Speedway for going from 16th to fourth.

Now, Marks is looking to turn his good runs into wins. Before returning to Wilmot, Marks’ next shot at another victory will be at Hartford Speedway in Hartford, Mich. on July 12.

“I’m excited to head there and see what it’s all about,” Marks said. “We don’t get to race in Michigan too often, so any time I get to go there I think it’s good for us drivers and the Series.”

The World of Outlaws have raced on the current three-eighths-mile configuration of Hartford Speedway once in 2017. Marks fared well, though, finishing fourth.

He enjoys going to new tracks and ones the series hasn’t been to in a while. It puts everyone on an even playing ground, he said.

“When I first started racing with the Outlaws, it was kind of nice (going to a newer track) because you don’t have to one up yourself from the year before,” Marks said. “Kind of start with a clean slate and go from there. That showed this year with some tracks we haven’t been to in a while or new ones like Nashville this year. Just kind of evens everybody up.”

He’s had success recently on new tracks and ones the series hasn’t been to in a few years with his fourth-place finish at Brown County Speedway and runner-up finish at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.

His first start at Wilmot Raceway was also kind to him, with a 10th-place run.

“I’ve actually always enjoyed Wilmot, even though I haven’t raced there that much,” Marks said. “It just seems to fit my driving style a little bit. It’s fun. It’s kind of tight. You can maneuver around. Close quarters racing. I think it’s a fun track and I enjoy racing there.”

After securing the win at the third-mile track last year, the weight of the world fell off his shoulders. He could finally check winning his first World of Outlaws race off his list of goals.

“It meant everything, really,” Marks said. “I had been working on getting an Outlaw win for a long time. I always figured it would happen on my home turf in Pennsylvania, but to be able to do it outside of PA and just be able to do it in general is pretty amazing.”

Racing with the World of Outlaws requires patience, Marks said, both patience and smart decisions on track. Those two traits led him to his first win last year, and he’s hoping they will lead to his first win of the season this year.

“It always seems to be harder to get that first one out of the way,” Marks said. “And that’s every year. It seems really hard to get that first win and after that they seem to, not really come easy, but it seems to happen more often. It’s the same thing we’re doing this year.

“We’re trying to get that first win of the year and see what we can do there.”

SPEED SPORT has been covering auto racing for 85 years, and over that time, tens of thousands of stories from all forms of motorsports have been told in its pages, as well as online.

Last week, Richard Petty celebrated the 35th anniversary of his historic 200th NASCAR premier series victory. We look back at that race in this week’s edition of Torn From The Headlines.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Richard Petty reached a threshold July 4 at Daytona Int’l Speedway that may never be equaled in professional stock car racing.

Petty won his 200th NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in a thrilling showdown with longtime rival Cale Yarborough, topping the Firecracker 400 in front of an estimated crowd of 80,000 spectators.

The seven-time Cup Series champion led 53 of the race’s 160 laps in his iconic STP-sponsored No. 43, but it was the third-to-last tour of the 2.5-mile Florida superspeedway that had the fans on their feet.

As the leaders were coming around to complete lap 158, Doug Heveron crashed his No. 01 Chevrolet in turn one, necessitating a caution period for cleanup. Petty and Yarborough found themselves nose-to-tail at that point and began a thrilling duel for the win which continued all the way around the track.

Exiting turn four, Petty got a burst of speed inside of Yarborough and managed to nose ahead at the start/finish line, leading the final two laps under caution for the victory.

Yarborough passed Petty going down the backstretch before the yellow flag, but it was Petty’s response to that move that ultimately gave him the spoils of victory in the end.

“When Cale was following me on that last green-flag lap, I didn’t have the foggiest idea what I was going to do,” Petty said. “It was a circumstance where he would act and I’d react. We touched two or three times, but not enough to upset either car.”

Wednesday’s victory was Petty’s second Cup Series win of the season. His prior win came at Dover Downs Int’l Speedway on May 20.

The race was even more notable, not just because of Petty’s milestone victory, but because President Ronald Reagan was in attendance to see Petty make auto-racing history in the closing laps.

Reagan gave the command to start engines from Air Force One, which later landed at nearby Daytona Beach Int’l Airport.

He is the first sitting president to attend a live NASCAR event.

After his arrival, Reagan went to the radio booth and called a brief portion of the race alongside the Motor Racing Network’s Barney Hall, Ned Jarrett and Eli Gold before Petty made history.

Prior to going to victory lane for the customary celebration, Petty went up to the press box to meet with the president, then later joined Reagan for a Kentucky Fried Chicken picnic with drivers and teams.

Harry Gant was credited with the second-place finishing position after Yarborough pulled onto pit road a lap early and was passed by Gant’s No. 33 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet. Yarborough finished third.

Bobby Allison and Benny Parsons completed the top five, with Bill Elliott finishing sixth as the last car on the lead lap.

Petty earned $43,755 for his victory. He averaged 171.204 mph over the 400-mile distance, with only three caution flags slowing the pace and 28 lead changes occurring among eight drivers.

The finish:

Richard Petty, Harry Gant, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Benny Parsons, Bill Elliott, Terry Labonte, Dale Earnhardt, Neil Bonnett, Joe Ruttman, Tim Richmond, Geoff Bodine, Phil Parsons, Tommy Ellis, Ricky Rudd, Trevor Boys, David Pearson, Dave Marcis, Jody Ridley, Rusty Wallace, Dean Roper, Mike Alexander, Dale Jarrett, Tommy Gale, Clark Dwyer, Ken Ragan, Connie Saylor, Doug Heveron, Ronnie Thomas, Kyle Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Dean Combs, Sterling Marlin, Ron Bouchard, Steve Moore, Buddy Arrington, Bobby Hillin Jr., Dick Brooks, Greg Sacks, Morgan Shepherd, Buddy Baker, Lake Speed.

**SPECIAL EDITION** – Thurs (July 11) 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET
Two-Hour SPEED SPORT on MAVTV
71st Pay Less Little 500 presented by UAW-GM

Tune in Thursday night for a two-hour special edition of SPEED SPORT, as Must See Racing’s 71st Pay Less Little 500 presented by UAW graces the national television stage!

From the historic Anderson Speedway quarter-mile in Indiana, this is the event all pavement sprint car racers look forward to each season, and you won’t want to miss it.

The Ralph Sheheen Show Presented by Lucas Oil
Episode 1 – Brad Doty
(National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee)

Tune in for the premier of The Ralph Sheheen Show presented by Lucas Oil where Ralph has an exclusive, candid, and in-depth conversation with National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, Brad Doty.

The long-time friends and former colleagues spend time discussing a variety of topics ranging from his time as a racer to his transition to the broadcast booth to his role as event promoter.

Don’t miss this entertaining and casual conversation with one of the nicest and most competitive guys to ever step foot in the sprint car pits.

The Vancouver Canucks continued their offseason makeover by signing free-agent forward Micheal Ferland on Wednesday.

Ferland gets a four-year deal with an average annual value of $3.5 million.

"Micheal is an energetic player that drives the play and can contribute in all three zones," Canucks general manager Jim Benning said in a statement. "He'll make our team harder to play against on a nightly basis and we're excited that he'll call Vancouver home."

Vancouver also signed free-agent defenseman Tyler Myers and traded for forward J.T. Miller this offseason.

The hard-hitting Ferland was acquired by the Hurricanes a year ago, along with Dougie Hamilton and Adam Fox, from the Flames for Noah Hanifin and Elias Lindholm.

Ferland provided a grittiness the Canes needed, finishing third on the team with 182 hits. He also added some offense to go with his physical play with 17 goals and 23 assists.

The 26-year-old had only one assist in seven playoff games, but he missed considerable time after sustaining an injury on a hit of Capitals big man Tom Wilson in the first round.

Ferland is coming off a two-year, $3.5 million deal that he signed with Calgary.

The Los Angeles Kings re-signed restricted free agent Alex Iafallo after his career year -- avoiding arbitration.

The forward set career highs with 15 goals and 18 assists. He receives a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2.425 million.

The 25-year-old was a bright spot for a down Kings team that finished last in the Pacific Division.

He was coming off a two-year entry-level contract with a cap hit of $925,000.

Frank Lampard was denied victory in his first match as Chelsea head coach with a late goal from trialist Eric Molloy snatching a 1-1 draw for Bohemians in Dublin.

Michy Batshuayi put Chelsea in front after just eight minutes when he pounced on Kenedy's deflected shot in the box, but Molloy found the top corner after racing onto Keith Ward's pass as the League of Ireland side finished stronger.

Following the match, Lampard didn't seemed worried about the result despite the lesser competition.

"It was a tough game for us," he said. "We haven't been back for long and this was our first game after just a few days so there was a bit of pressure on the lads to work today.

"We've been working them very hard and we did the same this morning as well. I want to stretch them because that's what preseason is all about."

Lampard had promised a "clean slate" for every Chelsea player at his unveiling last week, and backed up his words by handing Batshuayi, Danny Drinkwater and Kenedy opportunities to impress from the start.

Chelsea academy player of the year Conor Gallagher was the No.10 in a 4-2-3-1 formation, supplied by Ethan Ampadu alongside Drinkwater at the base of midfield and fellow Cobham talents Marc Guehi and Dujon Sterling in defence.

Bohemians found themselves pinned back early by confident Chelsea passing and intense pressing, and Batshuayi capitalised on a fortunate bounce of the ball to lash the visitors in front inside eight minutes.

Batshuayi and Ampadu were Chelsea's two most impressive performers in a first half short on clear chances, though Gallagher spurned a decent opportunity to double the lead when he blazed over from the Belgian striker's cutback.

Lampard made 11 changes at half-time, switching to a 4-3-3 system and introducing Tiemoue Bakayoko and Kurt Zouma as well as several academy prospects and Izzy Brown, fit again after a serious knee injury.

Chelsea began the second half as brightly as they had the first, with the lively Billy Gilmour twice threatening the Bohemians goal after late runs into the penalty area and Bakayoko stinging the palms of James Talbot with a low strike.

Both teams allowed their intensity to drop off for much of the final half-hour, but Bohemians took encouragement from some unconvincing Chelsea defending to push for an equaliser in the last 10 minutes.

Lampard said: "We wanted to win obviously because you always do but it's not about that at this point - it's about individuals getting fit and pushing themselves to the limit.

"We were pleased with the outcome and I thought some of the performances, particularly from some of the young lads, were really good."

They got their reward with a minute of the 90 remaining. Ward drove from midfield after sloppy Chelsea passing and played in Molloy, who showed impressive composure to fire beyond Jamie Cumming and into the top corner.

Ike Ugbo came within inches of converting Brown's low cross barely a minute later to provide a final twist, but Bohemians were left to celebrate the draw.

Chelsea are next in action against St Patrick's Athletic, another League of Ireland side, at Richmond Park in Dublin on Saturday.